


Angles

by mylittlecthulhu (marineko)



Series: Mathematics of Love [9]
Category: Arashi (Band), Johnny's Entertainment
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Ficlet, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-12-24
Updated: 2011-12-24
Packaged: 2017-12-31 06:26:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1028322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marineko/pseuds/mylittlecthulhu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aiba goes shopping for Sho's Christmas present, but gets distracted by Ohno.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Angles

**Author's Note:**

> this particular part was written for rainbowfilling@LJ :)

Aiba Masaki likes his job very, very much. Sure, the pay isn’t so great, and he spends more time with angsty, hormonal adolescents than people his own age, but it isn’t really as bad as most people think. He gets to run his chem lab pretty much however he wants to, as long as he doesn’t kill any students – at least, that’s how he interprets the long lecture Matsuoka-sensei had given him before he was hired. And things had went swimmingly, since – if he ignores the explosion that one time, or two, or five. He had been voted Best Teacher two years in a row, which Ninomiya-sensei from the college side tried to overturn but failed, and despite his sweet tooth it had taken him until White Day to finish all the Valentines chocolates he’d received. He makes sure to thank all the girls (and the few boys) personally, too, because it’s important to him that they know he appreciates it. Yes, he loves his job – and the kids – very much.  
  
Of course, that doesn’t mean that he doesn’t rejoice at the thought of a couple of days off, without any homework to mark or trips to chaperone. It’s the eve of Christmas Eve, and he can’t wait to spend some quality time with his boyfriend the next day. Yup. He nods, once, just for effect. Aiba Masaki is perfectly happy – and desperate.  
  
He has yet to purchase a single Christmas present.  
  
Why are all the shops so busy, he wonders. Does  _everyone_  shop in the last minute? He had thought that it’s just him. He’s at the bookshop, looking for something for Sho, when a book that he’s sure Nino would love catches his eye. When he makes his way toward it, however, he finds that there’s only one copy left and someone else had picked it up.   
  
“I wanted that,” he says forlornly, looking at the book.  _One Hundred Essential Things You Didn’t Know You Didn’t Know_ , the book’s title says. In a different colour, it says,  _Math Explains Your World_. It’s perfect, because Nino is married to his own brains, Aiba thinks, and he could just imagine the scorn on Nino’s face as he tells Aiba he already knows everything there is to know… about mathematics (qualifier added by Aiba).   
  
He looks up from the book to the person holding it, and dismay quickly turns into delight. “Ohno-sensei,” he greets, beaming. “How awesome is that, to bump into you here?”  
  
Ohno’s smile is faint. “Maybe the stars are all aligned and conspired for us to meet,” Ohno quips, but he looks like he's reading the back of the book in his hands.  
  
Ohno-sensei is the resident artist at College Side – which is what the high school faculty calls the other, erm, side. Aiba had been to his exhibition, once, because Jun does go super flail-y (or is that fail-y?) when he talks about Ohno. Aiba doesn’t understand most of it, really, but he’s suitably impressed. He doesn’t know if Ohno actually teaches any of the students, though, or if Ohno just spends all his time at the university making more art.  
  
“Ah,” he says. “Ohno-sensei. That book…”  
  
“Seems interesting, doesn’t it?” Ohno asks. “It would make a good present.”  
  
“ _I saw it first_ ,” Aiba blurts out, before his hands covers his mouth. Nino had always complained about his filtering system, but only occasionally does he rue its absence.  
  
Ohno’s expression remains the same for the most part, but his eyes give away his amusement. “But I know someone it’ll be perfect for,” he says, his voice coming out adorably whiny, and Aiba doesn’t understand how it could be possible. How could “adorable” and “whiny” be the same thing? He doesn’t waste any time thinking about it, though, because he’s trying to remember everything Jun had ever told him about the other man.  
  
Having a neighbour who’s a bit of a creepy stalker could be a good thing, sometimes.  
  
“Yeah,” he says. “Ah. Um. Is it your day off, too? Well, of course it is,” he continues, answering himself. “Both the College Side and ours have a three-day holiday this time around. Kind of nice of Director Kitagawa, huh? Oh, and – curry!”  
  
“Curry?” Ohno is definitely amused now, although he’s concealing it pretty well, scrunching up his face in confusion and looking at Aiba like he’s a little more bleary that he actually is.   
  
“Yes, curry!” Jun had told Aiba that Ohno eats an unnatural amount of curry, so it _must_  be his secret weakness, Aiba decides. “I’ll treat you to the curry place two doors down,  _just let me have that book_.” He still needs to shop for Sho, and Jun and even Ohno, so now that he’s found the perfect gift for Nino, he doesn’t want to let it get away. Plus, he has the feeling that he’d be in trouble looking for most of the gifts now, since he’d left it a little late.  
  
Ohno takes what feels like a very, very long time to register Aiba’s words, and to decide on what he wants to do. Aiba feels like crying, or grabbing the book from Ohno’s hands,  _anything_  that would let him move on to the next item.  
  
“Ohno-sensei,” he starts, trying to sound patient and calm – he ends up sounding like Jun when Jun is mad at him, and once the realization hits him, it takes heroic effort not to burst into a fit of giggles. Ohno’s head tilts slightly, indicating that he’s listening, and Aiba’s mind wanders to the  _interesting_ ness of Ohno’s face, how it looks so ordinary at one moment, and then all of a sudden it’s so  _not_. And the angle of his nose… angle…  
  
“Or fishing!” he exclaims, and Ohno doesn’t have to fake being just a little startled. “I can take you out angling – I meant fishing – and stuff.”  
  
“Hmm.” Ohno sounds thoughtful, as he looks sleepily into Aiba’s eyes. “I guess I’d love to, uhm, angle.” Only the slightest lift at the corner of his mouth indicates his amusement then, but Aiba doesn’t notice.  
  
“Great!” Aiba’s ecstatic. He doesn’t even remember why he needs the book so badly anymore, but it doesn’t matter. Victory is his. “Um, what?”  
  
“Here,” Ohno says, placing the book in Aiba’s hands. “All yours.”  
  
He waits until Aiba pays for the book, and they walk out of the bookstore, chatting about what Ohno is getting Jun now that the book is Aiba’s. They ignore the cold and go out for ice cream, just for an excuse to get hot cocoa after. (That, and the fact that Aiba  _does_  have a sweet tooth, and Ohno eats  _everything_.)   
  
When they leave the dessert place, and Aiba starts to regret it because he’s feeling colder than before, Ohno takes his hands, warming them. Aiba looks down, lulled by the pleasing warmth, before a thought hits him.  
  
“Uh, you know, Ohno-sensei,” he says. “When I asked you, that…”  
  
Ohno’s smile is knowing. Aiba’s eyes grow wider. “Going – angling, you mean?”  
  
“Ah. That. Yeah. Well, I had meant – as friends, you know?”  
  
“Of course.” Ohno is still smiling. “How else would you mean it?”  
  
Aiba’s laughter is loud, and relieved. “Yeah!” he says. “Of course, there’s no confusion, there.” He pauses, hesitant. “Well, I should get going, now.”  
  
Ohno acknowledges his words, and there is just a brief second when there is a look in his eyes that makes Aiba holds his breath, expecting. But the artist steps back instead of forwards, his smile turning into more of a smirk. “Say hi to Jun-kun for me,” he says.  
  
Aiba nods, the movement so quick and sharp that his head hurt, a little, before taking a step back himself, and turns away.  
  
 _Oh_ , he thinks.  _Jun is SO going to hear about this._  
  
(It’s only when he’s banging on his neighbour’s door that he realizes – he still haven’t finished his Christmas shopping.)


End file.
